The Iron Quest
by IntoTheNeverNever
Summary: Nym, a full-blooded fey girl has lived in the Never Never all her life but, she has so much more to learn about the world. She travels the Never Never with her friends Puck, Vi, and Grimalkin to find her long lost parents. But in the end she may not want to have learned who they really are.
1. Chapter 1Nym

**Chapter 1. Nym**

I felt like weights had been glued onto my eyelids as I sat up from my bed. In a daze, I swung my feet to the right side of the plush bed, anchoring them to the floor. The soft sheets slid off my nightgown like a waterfall. I glanced across the small, cottagey room and winced as I saw my hair in the mirror. Many of the long, dark brown strands were knotted together making my hair look like a bird's nest above a barbershop. My long, pointy ears stuck up between several clumps of hair showing that I was obviously fey. And there was no missing my large amber eyes (also a fey trait) that stared right back at me in the mirror. Glancing towards one of the windows in my bedroom, I noticed that the sun was shining brightly above the Seelie skies. My eyes bulged even wider as I realized I was late for work again. "Oh no, Nym, you've really done it this time!" I told myself as I quickly rose up off the bed and charged to bathroom.

I shuffled through all the cabinets till I finally found my hairbrush in one of the bottom drawers. I snatched it up, and quickly raked it through my hair, making the strands straighten out. When I was finished yanking at the knots, I slammed the comb's drawer shut. I brushed my teeth and ran back to my bedroom to change into a fine dress. As I slipped the smooth, plain, and pastel green dress on, I hunted down my leather boots.

I pulled the coffee colored shoes on and rushed out the door to hurry through the summer streets. I charged down the cobblestone paths that were lined with numerous shops, navigating through crowds that had probably slept in as well. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a young faerie trying to sell some newspapers. The young boy shouted "Seelie News! Updated every day! Iron Queen's 7th Elysium visit!". I snatched up a handwritten newspaper at the _Seelie Court News_ _Stand _that titled "When Will Titania's Next Summer Storm Hit? Oberon is Gone Hunting Again!". I rolled my eyes and tried to enjoy every moment I could be away from Titania. I worked a full time job for that witch and it was pure torture. And now that Oberon is gone, she will probably be in the mood for making brownies into rosebushes. Day after day, I cater to her every needs (which isn't my job but I did it anyway) and make her daily schedule for her (which is my real job). The only thing I liked was that I got to work with Vi, my best friend. She wasn't fey but she was as pretty and well featured as one. She had curly, red hair that went about two inches past her shoulder. Her eyes were a bright green. Her thin frame made her almost as agile as I. She was a really good violinist, in fact so good that apparently Leanansidhe herself stole her when she was younger and then Titania stole her from Leanansidhe. In the end somehow she got home but then was later brought back by Titania to make Leanansidhe jealous again. I really don't know if that was 100% true but that's what she said.

I was getting closer to the court now to where I could at least see the knights standing by the front gates. I finally got through the guarded gate, into the magnificent courtyard. A large water fountain stood in the middle of the massive garden, water glisten brightly as it cascaded down into a large, clear pool below it. Since the Seelie court was currently holding the Scepter of Seasons you could feel the extra glamour in the air. A gravel path, that had many other paths branch out of it, went around the fountain towards the large, hedge labyrinth that led to where Titania's throne was perched. I sprinted past the fountain and headed into the maze to find the Summer Queen.

The garden would have been lovely to stroll through if I wasn't so late. Long vines with enormous hot pink flowers sprouted out of the bushes made an arch overhead the paths in the maze. Soft music played and the summer air. I've been in and out of the maze for decades but each time it always amazed me. Finally, I spun around the last turn of the maze to find Titania perched on her throne. Smiling.

I quickly bowed at the sight of her, worried about that smile. Smiling was not a good sign with Titania. When she smiles it usually means she is about to turn you into a rabbit. I wiped away any emotion from my face so she would have a harder time seeing I was nervous. I spotted Vi sitting down in the corner of the hedge walls, her violin in a case next to her.

"Nym, dear, please come closer." Her velvety voice drifted towards me almost making me wince.

"Yes milady." I forced my feet to go closer to the queen. Her diamond blue eyes sliced through me like knives. Titania leaned back in her throne eyeing me.

"You, Vi, and a few of my close servants are going to have a week off starting today. Please don't come back to the Court until a few days. If you return before a week, you will become a deer. Now, Leave." She pointed towards the exit. "Vi, you are dismissed as well."

Vi nodded and exited the maze by my side. As we walked farther away from Titania, Vi slowed to a halt. We hadn't talked the entire walk back to the front gates. Vi turned to me.

"We need to go on an adventure this week." She stated. I looked right back at her. Where had _that_ come from?

"Okay, where?" I replied, trying not to look too surprised at her odd comment.

"It's not where; it's more of a….quest. Is there something that you want to do? Anything you'd want to find out?" she questioned, her emerald eyes sparkling. I pondered that for a moment. I had always wondered who my parents were. I don't remember them. I always lived by myself. Even when I was young I would sleep on the Seelie streets. I wanted to find my parents, to at least know who they are.

I immediately looked back at Vi again. "I want to find my parents. That will be our quest."

"Then we should find a guide." Vi said, and we continued to walk through the gates. Until Robin Goodfellow stopped us in our tracks.

"A quest? I'm in!" he stood in front of us, smirking. He took a bite out of an apple that appeared in his hand.

I glanced at Vi, and she nodded. I had never really met him but I heard that he was quite a prankster. He seemed to know his way around the Never Never and he was a much older faerie than I.

"All right. You can come with us."

"Come with you? No way! I'm leading! Now what are we searching for? Pies? Cotton Candy?" He asked smugly.

Vi giggled at his guessing. "No, Puck, we are searching for Nym's parents." Vi said to puck.

"Come one, wouldn't you rather have Candy?" He joked back. "I'm guessing by the way that Nym is glaring at me, that would be a no. Oh well, we will just have to stop and get Cotton Candy on the way." he snorted. He looked at me with a slight smirk. "I bet you don't know where to start do you?"

"That's kinda why we need a guide." I replied back to the Summer Jester.

He looked at his apple for a second and then bit a chunk out of it. He looked back up at me and grinned.

"I have a friend who can help us get started. To the mortal world we shall go!" He said pointing towards a shop lined on the Street.


	2. Chapter 2 Into Jazzland

**Chapter 2. Into Jazzland**

Puck led us into an old shop titled "Wyld Wood Works" on the side of the street. Puck opened the door to the shop and beckoned us to come in.

"Are you sure this is a way to the moral world? I've lived here all my life and I've never seen this place." I asked Puck while I stepped into musty shop. The walls were lined with shelves that met the 3 stories high ceilings. Lanterns hung from hooks on the walls, illuminating the shop. Everything was wooden, even the things for sale. The front desk, as well as the rest of the shop, was vacant. The large store smelled like old newspapers and wood stain. I glanced at Puck to find that he had found a glossy, wooden apple. He lifted his vision off of the sleek, mahogany apple, onto me.

"Exactly." He stated as if that answered everything. He walked up to the front desk and laid the shining apple on it.

"It's the nearest portal I know of that leads to Jazzland. But, hey, if you want to go aimlessly trekking through the Wyldwood, you're welcome to." He told me, looking quite amused.

"Jazzland? What the heck is that?" I asked ignoring his comment about the Wyldwood.

"It's another name for New Orleans. I played in a concert there once." Vi said as she strolled up to a shelf lined with ancient instruments. I watched her fiddle with a dusty flute before glancing back to the front desk. To my surprise an old looking silver haired Faerie (which was odd because faeries always look young) sat at the desk glaring at Vi.

"Human, don't touch it unless you are going to buy it." The old Fey spoke to Vi as if she were thoughtless. Puck sauntered towards the counter and leaned on it.

"Don't get your panties in a knot, she was just observing it, Cwillic. Will you take us to the portal, oh and can you put this in a shopping bag for me?" He asked Cwillic cheekily, pointing towards the glistening apple.

"Take you to the portal and give you the apple? What do I get out of this, Goodfellow?" The old fey sneered.

"How about we make a deal that if I won't let another raccoon in here again than you let all of us get through the portal and I can also have the wooden apple?" Puck grinned as Cwillic pondered his deal.

"Fine. It's a deal." Cwillic replied back to the fiery red head with a scowl "I can't afford anymore raccoon attacks from you." I tried hard to suppress a giggle. I could already tell that this journey with Puck was going to be interesting. Cwillic wrapped Goodfellow's apple in lime green wrapping paper and then stuffed it into a paper bag with the _Wyld Wood Works _logo on it. He reached the bag out towards the edge of the counter and puck snatched it up.

"Okay, now will you lead us to the portal Cwillic? Come on Ladies, We've got more shopping to do!" Puck said prissily, holding his shopping bag out in front of himself. Vi and I snickered at his joke. Puck _really_ didn't hit me as the shopping type.

"Follow me to the portal. And be careful where you step." Cwillic got up from his stool behind the counter and grabbed a lantern from off of the wall. We followed him down several aisles of books until he opened a door that led into a shadowy, long hallway. The old floors creaked below us and from what I could tell in the darkness, the white walls look cracked. I was quite shocked that there were no shelves in the hall. In fact there was nothing in the dim halls. We walked for several minutes before Cwillic's shuffling slowed to a stop. He opened the only door in the entire hall. Past the door was a petite room that was a little brighter than the hall. It was empty except for a giant wooden arch that looked like it had been carved out of a giant log. I have never left Arcadia before. What was the mortal world like? Vi often told me stories of when she was little and how she traveled all over the world to play her violin. She told me how everyone used iron in their households every day. She was so lucky that she never got iron sick. Just being near it was awful, let alone touching it.

"I've led you to the portal so I will be going back to the shop." And with that Cwillic left the room.

"He is so easy to bargain with its not even funny. The apple and the portal! Wow, I thought I knew him better than that." Puck said as he eyed the wooden arch.

"He's awfully grumpy. Why is he so old? I thought you guys always looked young?" asked Vi purely out of curiosity.

"I think he just likes that grumpy old man persona. Anyway, he'll be even grumpier when he finds out I took this." Puck reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the wooden flute. He handed the carved instrument to Vi. Vi took hold of it as if it were glass, placing it gently into her backpack that also held her violin.

Vi looked at Puck for a second, and she seemed to be have a hard time replying. She couldn't say 'thank you' because that meant that she owed Puck something.

"Um, this is…nice." Was all Vi could manage. Puck smiled and nodded his head.

"Keep it safe. After I get the cold shoulder from Cwillic I don't want to find out that it's lost. Now, without further Aude, let's go to New Orleans!" And Puck walked right into portal. He didn't end up on the other side of the arch. He was gone.

"You can go ahead of me. I'll be right behind you." Vi told me, staring at the portal. Her aura was easy to read. She was shocked and slightly nervous.

"Alright. We'd better catch up before Puck leaves us to wander the streets by himself." And then I walked under the arch to find myself in total whiteness.

The white quickly faded away saw I was in the mouth of some odd creature. I almost panicked until I spotted Puck sitting on a statue of a wooden boy with a very long stick nose.

"You're not afraid of a whale are you?" The red head hoped off the boy's shoulders with a large smirk on his face.

"Well I'm not used to ending up in a whale's mouth. I guess I can check that off my bucket list." I said sarcastically while stepping out of the mouth. I looked around and noticed children playing in a giant shoe. Were we in New Orleans? If these were the buildings, than mortals had an odd taste in design. I saw a large blue castle off in the distance with what looked to be a dragon of some sort. I heard a clatter behind me and saw that Vi was walking out of the whales mouth looking like a deer in headlights.

"Vi, are you alright?" I asked her. She cautiously stepped out of the mouth and turned to examine the whale.

"I'm just glad that it's fake." She said, still looking a bit dazed.

"Are you guys ready to go to our next destination on the _Goodfellow's New Orleans Tour_?" Puck asked us with his smirk that never seemed to go away.

"And where would this this next destination be?" I asked him curiously.

He Chuckled. "The infamous New Orleans Oracle of course."


End file.
